JFA Yachts for Sale

Frédéric Jaouen and Frédéric Breuilly started JFA in Concarneau in the spring of 1993 to build one boat, the 22 meter aluminum sloop Kermor, and never stopped. The yard sits on the Quai des Seychelles in a working Breton fishing port, employs around 50 people, metal workers, welders, mechanics, cabinet makers and composite hands, and builds almost nothing twice. The first aluminum motor yacht, the 37 meter Axantha, came in 2003, the first catamaran in 2004, and the award winning Bystander in 2007. A 50 meter motor yacht now in build is the largest thing the yard has made. Ownership is passing to three people who came up through the shop, Gaël Douguet, Vincent Balouin and Dominique Rouchon, over five to six years from 2023, rather than to a trade buyer.

That matters when you buy used, because a JFA is effectively a one off and the file is the boat. There are no comparables to lean on, so the survey, the original specification, the refit history and the yard's own records carry the valuation. Aluminum rewards this: it lasts, it repairs, and it tells you the truth, but check the paint, the areas around through hulls and any place a dissimilar metal was bolted to the hull. For an American owner the honest picture is that support lives in Brittany. These boats are built to European practice and the larger ones to commercial and charter standards, so expect 230 volt 50 hertz systems unless the boat was specified for an American owner, and confirm it before you plan the dock and the air conditioning. Confirm too whether duty has been paid on United States entry, since many JFAs have lived under European flags and charter structures. Budget for a yard that genuinely knows aluminum, which is a shorter list in Florida than in Brittany.